UPDATE: German axe attack - authorities identify suspect

UPDATE: German axe attack - authorities identify suspect

UPDATE 6.40PM: ISLAMIC State has claimed responsibility for this morning's attack where a 17 year-old Afghan boy took to people in a train carriage, armed with an axe and a knife.

UPDATE 8.40AM: German interior ministry has confirmed three seriously injured.

The suspect is a 17-year-old Afghan man who was shot by police after he threatened them with an axe and a knife, the NZ Herald reports.

The man attacked passengers with "cutting and stabbing weapons" on a train near the German city of Wuerzburg.

UPDATE 7.54AM: A number of people have reportedly been injured in an attack by a man with an axe on a train in Germany.

The attacks took place on Monday evening when the train was near the city of Würzburg, according to local media.

The Main Post newspaper reported that three people were seriously hurt, one slightly injured and 14 others were left suffering from shock. Other media outlets put the number of injured at between 15 and 21.

Police shot dead a man believed to be the attacker, the Bavarian Interior Minister confirmed.

Local media reports said that the suspect had been trying to flee the train when he was killed.